Nearly a month after hosting an estate sale selling nostalgic pieces of the restaurant’s history, PizzaPapalis in Detroit’s Greektown will permanently close.
The pizzeria known for its Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas, struggled as many restaurants did during the pandemic.
PizzaPapalis has been a fixture on Monroe St. since 1986, but the loss of traffic throughout the pandemic made keeping the establishment open difficult.
"We continued to keep the lights on but at this point, it's an untenable situation for us," Joe Sheena, who co-owns the pizza chain with his brother Mark Sheena, told the Detroit Free Press. "We've decided to focus our attention on our five other locations, which are busy."
Those five locations are much smaller in size compared to the Greektown location and making them easier to manage, Sheena told the Free Press.
“We went as long as we possibly could," Sheena told the Free Press. "We couldn't keep the lights on and keep paying rent for as long as we are. We are still optimistic that when this crazy thing settles down we may reappear, but not in a big space like this."
PizzaPapalis remains open at the following locations:
Detroit (Rivertown): 3171 E. Jefferson Ave.
Southfield: 23703 Greenfield Rd.
Bloomfield Hills: 4036 Telegraph Rd.
Downriver (Taylor): 14680 Pardee Rd.
Ohio (Toledo): 519 Monroe St.
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